Bill
04-08-2008, 05:12 AM
So, this Columbia free trade deal the republicans want has been in the news a lot lately.
I've been wondering, what do the american people get out of the deal?
Big business gets to move jobs to columbia, where the paramilitaries kill union organizers to keep columbian workers terrified and wages down.
But what do we get from it?
I gather all the things we import are already covered under a bunch of laws that make them almost duty free. Is columbia going to put big tariffs on flowers, coffee, and the like?
I figure, if the republicans want it, it screws over america somehow. The negatives seem clear - what are the positives? Why is it being pushed by Bush at all?
Why do all these lobbyists and Clintonistas want it so badly?
The opposition cites a history of attacks in Colombia against trade union members, 39 of whom the A.F.L.-C.I.O. says were killed in the country last year after trying to stand up for worker rights. The government there, the union leaders claim, has not completely cut its ties to paramilitary organizations responsible for the attacks or taken stiff enough action against those involved in the crimes.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. intends to run newspaper advertisements this week that say, ”Don’t Reward Murder.”
Colombian officials respond that in the five years since President Álvaro Uribe has been in power, violence in the country has declined significantly, including attacks against unionists. At the same time, the economy has boomed.
Trade with Colombia is a minuscule portion of the United States’ global trade. The United States imports grains, cotton, flowers and soybeans from Colombia, and exports chemicals, plastics, cereal, heavy machinery and electronics.
Most of what the United States imports, moreover, is duty-free under trade preferences that are renewed periodically. But opponents of the deal argue that keeping products permanently duty-free might prompt American companies to transfer their manufacturing units to Colombia, costing American jobs.
The Bush administration concedes that it does not yet have enough Democratic votes to join with the overwhelming majority of Republican votes expected to endorse the Colombia deal.
“This is a very difficult issue for Democrats,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat who is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “The way the administration has handled it has made it more difficult.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/washington/08lobby.html
I've been wondering, what do the american people get out of the deal?
Big business gets to move jobs to columbia, where the paramilitaries kill union organizers to keep columbian workers terrified and wages down.
But what do we get from it?
I gather all the things we import are already covered under a bunch of laws that make them almost duty free. Is columbia going to put big tariffs on flowers, coffee, and the like?
I figure, if the republicans want it, it screws over america somehow. The negatives seem clear - what are the positives? Why is it being pushed by Bush at all?
Why do all these lobbyists and Clintonistas want it so badly?
The opposition cites a history of attacks in Colombia against trade union members, 39 of whom the A.F.L.-C.I.O. says were killed in the country last year after trying to stand up for worker rights. The government there, the union leaders claim, has not completely cut its ties to paramilitary organizations responsible for the attacks or taken stiff enough action against those involved in the crimes.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. intends to run newspaper advertisements this week that say, ”Don’t Reward Murder.”
Colombian officials respond that in the five years since President Álvaro Uribe has been in power, violence in the country has declined significantly, including attacks against unionists. At the same time, the economy has boomed.
Trade with Colombia is a minuscule portion of the United States’ global trade. The United States imports grains, cotton, flowers and soybeans from Colombia, and exports chemicals, plastics, cereal, heavy machinery and electronics.
Most of what the United States imports, moreover, is duty-free under trade preferences that are renewed periodically. But opponents of the deal argue that keeping products permanently duty-free might prompt American companies to transfer their manufacturing units to Colombia, costing American jobs.
The Bush administration concedes that it does not yet have enough Democratic votes to join with the overwhelming majority of Republican votes expected to endorse the Colombia deal.
“This is a very difficult issue for Democrats,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat who is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “The way the administration has handled it has made it more difficult.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/washington/08lobby.html